Wednesday, September 11, 2013

In the Reynolds Girls 1989 single "I'd Rather Jack", a peculiar moment of year zero militancy in the catalogue of hitmakers Stock Aitken Waterman, the teenage siblings insisted, "I'd rather jack than Fleetwood Mac," the band being a conveniently rhyming example of the kind of middle-aged millionaire has-beens that the rave generation allegedly had no time for. Who needs them? We have Yazz now!

But 24 years later, as Fleetwood Mac approach the UK leg of their latest world tour, their influence is, to quote one of their most infectious songs, everywhere. Their audiophile fanaticism was a touchstone for Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. Last year, the indie tribute album Just Tell Me That You Want Me featured the likes of MGMT and Tame Impala. Mumford & Sons recently closed their massive London show with a massed rendition of "The Chain". Hot Chip even perform a dance floor version of "Everywhere", proving once and for all that jacking and Fleetwood Mac-ing aren't mutually exclusive. If the whispers are true and Fleetwood Mac headline Glastonbury next year, their status as twenty-somethings' new favourite classic rockers will be confirmed.

If only the Reynolds Girls had done their research they would have realised that Fleetwood Mac are unkillable. Their wikipedia page reads like a Russian novel, with new characters popping up before exiting in grim circumstances, including mental illness, alcoholism, adultery and religious cult. By the time they absorbed romantically involved duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1975 in a kind of last-ditch corporate merger, the band had lost seven members, with only the rock-solid rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie weathering the perpetual storm.

The new vinyl box set 1969-1972 (Rhino) shines light on their underrated output during the difficult years, but it's the classic 1975-1987 line-up that has acquired mythic status. For the first time since the Beatles, a band had three distinct singer-songwriters at the top of their game.

Famously, everyone was breaking up with everyone else while making 1977's Rumours, which quickly went platinum at the height of the United States' divorce revolution, selling over 40 million copies to date worldwide. On one level it's a painstakingly crafted soft-rock fantasy, glowing with sunshine and money, but uncomfortable emotions are constantly gnawing and jabbing away at the music's flawless surface pleasures. It has the firepower of a greatest-hits collection and the coherence of a concept album. Each song seems to be talking to, or about, all the others in a he-said-she-said echo chamber.

Tusk

Critics are fond of 1979's disjointed Tusk, and the white-powder Fleetwood Mac because it was weirder and it flopped, but Rumours aced the trickier task of making emotional poison taste like nectar.

Rumours may sound escapist but in the lyrics there's no escape, especially for the band. How strange it must be, 36 years later for them to perform "The Chain" ("I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain"), or for Buckingham to hear Nicks sing "Silver Springs". "You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you." Apart from Christine, they're all still handcuffed to these songs about old betrayals, and to each other. Critics are fond of 1979's disjointed Tusk, and the white-powder Fleetwood Mac because it was weirder and it flopped, but Rumours aced the trickier task of making emotional poison taste like nectar. That's why young musicians still flock to it, enthralled and envious. Punk rock, with which it coincided, is easy to emulate now but a copy-in-every-home colossus that contains fierce emotional truths? That's hard.

I suspect San Fernando sibling trio Haim are heartily sick of Fleetwood Mac comparisons by now, but they haven't exactly gone out of their way to defuse them. However, there's nothing slavish or trite about their wonderful upcoming debut album Haim (Polydor). I'm only now emerging from a year-long addiction to the single "Don't Save Me", a treasure chest of delicious moments: the way lead singer Danielle Haim stutters "Ta-ta-take me back", the warm solidarity of the chorus harmonies, the unresolved agitation in the drums. Clearly a Michael Jason fan, Danielle often treats her voice like it's part of the rhythm section, snatching at certain words, turning syllables into beats, bouncing off the eathier vocals of her sisters, Alan and Este.

It's a diverse record, suggesting Eighties Nile Rodgers ("If I Could Change Your Mind"), West Coast Kate Bush ("Running If You Call My Name") and Queens Of The Stone Age wrestling with R&B ("My Song 5"). The unifying threads are an attention to sonic detail and a spirit of toughness in the face of disappointment. Imagine Stevie Nicks delivering the opening taunt from "Forever": "Hey You! Remember me? Remember love?"

Haims songs are so agile and enjoyalbe that you almost don't notice their pain.

Nicks' prediction that "2013 is going to be the year of Fleetwood Mac" has been proved correct. It could be for Haim, too.

Charlotte got their songbird back... but didn't get their "Songbird". The final song of the night (Songbird) wasn't p...

Mick Fleetwood and Anthony BozzaPlay On: Now, Then and Fleetwood Mac

In April, 2013 New York Times Author Anthony Bozza began working with legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood on his life story, which will span the entire history of the band that bears his name.

In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock 'n' roll since his teens.

The group Fleetwood Mac has sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they continue to attract a huge following, selling out their biggest arena tour ever in 2013, decades after their debut. Finally, the group's admirers will have a unique portrait of what made Mick and the rest of the group tick in the midst of their massive success and personal trials.

Christine McVie interview with The Works, the magazine of BASCA - British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors, by Darren Haynes. Read the full interview with Christine via The Works Magazine online at BASCA.org

Really great interview. Christine talks about her Lifetime Achievement Award she received from BASCA... About songwriting, collaborating with Lindsey Buckingham. The new Fleetwood Mac album, co-writing with Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac's upcoming World Tour. Here's one nugget of info for the UK:

"According to Christine McVie (with a caveat to stand corrected if she's wrong) the band is booked to add a European leg to their world tour. This will coincide with the release of the new album.I think we're doing four nights at The O2 around Spring time next year, you know April around that kind of date. If I'm wrong on that, then I'm gonna get hung drawn and quartered".
Here is the audio from the presentation of Christine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ivors.

“Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987. One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories - the 24 karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you,” commented Nicks.

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NEW ALBUM IN THE WORKS
Christine was a guest on the Ken Bruce radio program on BBC Radio 2 and was featured each morning between Oct 7th and 11th choosing the "Tracks of My Years". Each day included a short interview clip with Christine along with her track choice and why. During the last day Christine revealed that she's currently working on new material and hopefully a forthcoming solo album saying its a return to her musical sound of the 70's.